by Elder M. Russell Ballard

“[Set] short-term goals that you can reach. Set goals that are well balanced–not too many nor too few, and not too high nor too low. Write down your attainable goals and work on them according to their importance. Pray for divine guidance in your goal setting.

“You recall that Alma said he would like to be an angel so he could ‘speak with the trump of God, . . . to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!’ (Alma 29:1). He then said, ‘But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me. . . .

“‘Why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called?’ (Alma 29:3, 6).”

(M. Russell Ballard, “Keeping Life’s Demands in Balance,” Ensign, May 1987, 13)